A Shabby Genteel Story by William Makepeace Thackeray. Short summary

5 seconds

The protagonist Caroline Gunn is the model of a Victorian girl from a noble family, but she cannot marry. She falls in love with the ladies’ man Brandon and runs away with him from home.

1 minute

England 1835. An impoverished catcher, George Brandon, is hiding from creditors in a seaside town, in a boarding house. His hosts are bankrupt businessman James Gunn and his wife, Juliana the crook. Their daughter, Caroline Gunn, is a sweet, intelligent, and well-mannered girl, but she has no life experience and a weak character. In addition, she has no rich dowry, which is why suitors avoid her.

Caroline has two half-sisters, Rosalind and Isabella. Brandon despises the Gunns but tries to seduce each of the sisters. It seems to Caroline that Brandon is the handsome prince she has been waiting for. She falls in love with him.

But Caroline refuses Brandon’s intimacy until he promises to marry. But he is looking for a rich bride. Fitch, an artist from the same boarding house, competes with Brandon. They have a duel with unloaded pistols, but a certain lady suddenly arrives and takes Fitch with her.

Brandon becomes so infatuated with Caroline that he secretly takes her to the wedding. They both run away from home.